Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
“You guys sure know how to shake up an ordinary trip,” someone recently commented.
My husband and I purchased a roundtrip flight from Harrisburg to Nashville for a few days of grandparenting bliss over spring break. But the day before we left, our son reported he might be coming down with the flu. We held on to hope, though, and even packed our bags the morning of our scheduled flight. To no avail. Our son later confirmed a positive flu test.
Disappointed, we unpacked our bags and cancelled our flight.
However, a few hours later, our son called again to say the doctor told him he wouldn’t be contagious by the weekend. If we would like to come on the Friday-Monday flight, it should be safe. So we booked a new reservation and repacked our bags.
After a wonderful weekend, we were headed to the airport Monday morning when we got the notification. Our flight home had been cancelled due to weather. We searched for another flight or a car rental, but came up empty. Nothing was leaving Nashville that day! We were stuck.
Finally, we located a car, but on our way to pick it up the next morning, the rental agent called to say they were out of cars. We tried three more rental companies. One even booked us a car, but we arrived to pick it up only to discover the agent had booked it in Scottsdale, Arizona! We eventually booked a flight the next day with another airline. It was pricier, but it got us home.
When odd things happen, my 3-year-old grandson likes to shout, “What in the world!” On our visit, I started responding to him with equal incredulity, “Shut the door!” (which threw both of us into giggle fits). Our spring break definitely qualifies as a what-in-the-world-shut the-door occasion.
Scripture says man makes plans, but it’s the purpose of the Lord that stands. We don’t always have the luxury of knowing why things happen the way they do. But when our plans get upended (and even the upended plans get upended) we can walk through the changes with peace. Our loving, sovereign God brings purpose, even out of chaos.
Well, shut the door!